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Time Out_English_final 20/5/05 12:19 PM Page 2

Why the world needs a time-out on high- bottom

L.E. Morgan Biology Institute, USA

E.A. Norse Marine Conservation Biology Institute, USA

A.D. Rogers British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge, UK The Deep Conservation Coalition, an alliance of over 40 international R.L. Haedrich organizations, representing millions of people in countries around the world, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, is calling for a moratorium on high seas .

S.M. Maxwell For further information about the Coalition visit: www.savethehighseas.org Marine Conservation Biology Institute, USA

Published June 2005 DSCC Introduction

Fishing on the high seas far from land is dangerous and expensive, and it consumes large amounts of fossil fuel. Fishermen would be unlikely to venture out on the high seas if Contents were still abundant in more productive nearshore . High-seas bottom trawling (HSBT) is a relatively new industry, having begun in the 1950s when an increasing number Introduction 2 of nations over-fished their coastal . They built larger and more powerful vessels Six reasons why high-seas bottom trawling needs an immediate time-out. 3 and developed gears that were more robust, such as rockhopper trawls, huge nets 1. Although high-seas bottom trawling has spread rapidly, it is of minor economic 3 and stronger cables. Governments further fueled this move with grants and subsidies. 1 importance 2. Bottom trawling is the world’s most destructive type of fishing 4 Now fishermen are increasingly trawling in the least-known and least-protected place 3. Deep-sea fish are inherently vulnerable to over-fishing 7 on , the beyond nations’ Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs). Sixty-four 4. Deep-sea are severely damaged by bottom trawling 9 percent of the world’s fall outside the boundaries of EEZs and few agreements 5. Scientific understanding is inadequate for sustainable deep-sea bottom-trawl 11 exist to manage deep-sea in this vast realm. Deep-sea environments are fisheries particularly vulnerable to bottom trawling, because conditions there are typically stable 6. Management and governance are inadequate for sustainable deep-sea 13 and unchanging. When changes or disturbances come (as with trawling), the organisms bottom-trawl fisheries are poorly equipped to adapt or respond to them. 2 It is especially unfortunate that Summary 14 nearshore over-fishing and habitat destruction have shifted fishing to the last places on

Earth where marketable fish with firm white flesh are found: , mid- ridges, continental slopes and banks in the deep sea. Populations of deep-sea fish that are targeted by bottom trawlers and populations of those caught incidentally as , are especially vulnerable to trawling damage. 3 Crucial habitat-forming animals in the deep sea are similarly vulnerable but are often overlooked. In addition, many of these seamounts, and other hard, rocky surfaces which rise above the muddy seafloor, are thought to host a richness of species rivaling that of tropical rainforests, with many species restricted in range to a single geographic region, a chain, or even a single seamount location. 4

There are clear and increasing signs that high-seas bottom-trawl fisheries are causing unprecedented damage to some of the most vulnerable ecosystems on our planet. In this paper, we present the arguments that have motivated 1,136 scientists from 69 nations to publicly call for an immediate worldwide moratorium – a time-out – on the most destructive fishing method (deep-sea bottom trawling) in the least protected place on Earth (the high seas).

1 Roberts, C.M. (2002). Deep impact: the rising toll of fishing in the deep sea. Trends In and Evolution 17(5): 242-245 2 NRC (National Research Council) (2002). Effects of trawling and dredging on seafloor habitat . National Academy of Sciences, Washington DC 3 Gordon, J.D.M., et al (1995). Environmental and biological aspects of slope-dwelling fish. pp.1-30 in A.G. Hopper ed., Deep Fisheries of the North Atlantic Oceanic Slope , Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht 4 Richer de Forges, B., et al. (2000). Diversity and endemism of the benthic seamount fauna in the southwest Pacific. Nature 405: 944-947

Why the world needs a time -out on high -seas bottom trawling – Deep Sea Conservation Coalition 1 Why the world needs a time -out on high -seas bottom trawling – Deep Sea Conservation Coalition 2 borealis ), roundnose grenadier ( ), Greenland ( Reinhardtius Six reasons why high-seas bottom trawling needs hippoglossoides ), rockfish ( Sebastes spp.), smoothheads ( Alepocephalus spp.), an immediate time-out (Hoplostethus atlanticus ), blue ling ( Molva dypterygia ), alfonsinos ( Beryx spp.), American (Hippoglossoides platessoides ) and roughhead grenadier ( Macrourus berglax ). 13 Landings from Scientists tend to be reluctant to prescribe actions unless there is an overwhelming need to do HSBT make up 80 percent of high-seas , yet the habitats on which bottom trawling occurs – the rocky substrates of mid-oceanic ridges, seamounts, and submarine canyons – are so. We would not be calling for an immediate moratorium on high-seas bottom trawling if there 14 were significant uncertainty about the effectiveness of this course of action or if there were time to rare, occupying less than four percent of the seafloor. examine the issue at a more leisurely pace. There are six major reasons why we believe an Globally, the market impact of HSBT is tiny: it constituted only a fraction of one percent of the immediate moratorium on high-seas bottom trawling is in order: reported total marine fish catch in 2001 by volume and value. The world’s high-seas bottom- trawling fleet consists of several hundred vessels at most. The catch level in 2001 would at best support between 100 and 200 vessels operating on a year-round equivalent basis. This compares 1. Although high-seas bottom trawling has spread rapidly, it is to a global of approximately 3.1 million vessels. 15 In 2001, HSBT contributed roughly of minor economic importance 200 thousand tons 16 to the worldwide 80-million-ton marine fish catch. Just 11 countries accounted for 95 percent of the reported high-seas bottom-trawl catch: Spain, Russia, Portugal, 17 The former USSR was one of the first nations to initiate high-seas bottom trawling, beginning in , Estonia, Denmark/Faroe Islands, Japan, Lithuania, Iceland, , and Latvia. 18 the Pacific in the late 1950s and in the Atlantic in the early 1970s. 5 The discovery of substantial European Union (EU) countries took approximately 60 percent of the reported HSBT catch, with orange roughy populations around New Zealand brought bottom-trawl fishing to the deeper Spain accounting for over 65 percent of the reported EU catch and 40 percent of the global HSBT 19 slopes and seamounts of the Southeast Pacific in the late 1970s. 6 Elsewhere, other countries catch in 2001. To put this in perspective, the combined value of the reported HSBT catch in the 20 started fishing on slopes and seamounts in the 1980s and ‘90s, and today they are continuing Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans in 2001 was roughly US$300-400 million, equivalent to the to fish even more deeply. 7 Rather than fishing deep-sea fish sustainably, commercial bottom revenue from one blockbuster movie (for example, Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ ) or to trawlers reflect a typical pattern of serial over-fishing that is best summarized as “plunder and the value of the State of Florida’s annual commercial imports. push on”. High-seas bottom trawling – as currently practiced– quickly renders localized deep- sea fish populations commercially extinct, whereupon fishing vessels move on to the next Significantly, the majority of the high-seas bottom-trawl catch is destined for markets in the most affluent nations, namely the USA, Europe, and Japan, negating claims that HSBT fishing ground. Glover and Smith predict that all deep-sea fisheries present in 2003 will be 21 commercially extinct by 2025. 8 Furthermore, because of the high level of unique species found contributes to global food security. HSBT fishing is a boutique , temporarily benefiting on many seamounts, the potential for through trawl damage is high. 9 only wealthy nations and wealthy consumers while trashing the global environment for a very long time (decades to centuries). Restrictions on these fisheries will have no major social impact but Across the globe, from the North Atlantic to Namibia, and from the Southwest Indian Ocean will have very important environmental benefits. to the international waters surrounding New Zealand and , HSBT has expanded in the last two decades, driven by the depletion of coastal resources and shelf-fisheries and by the resulting increased restrictiveness of fisheries regulations within national waters. At the same time, demand for fish in developed countries has increased whilst effective regulation on the 2. Bottom trawling is the world’s most destructive type 10 high seas is lacking. Exploratory fishing is now occurring in all oceans – sponsored by a of fishing variety of nations – to such an extent that it is likely that has had an impact 11 on nearly all of the known seamounts with summits shallower than 1,000 meters. In the New The idea that dragging huge, heavily-weighted nets across vast areas of seafloor might be harmful Zealand region alone, the number of fished seamounts has increased by almost 250 percent in to seafloor ecosystems appears obvious. Indeed, as early as 1376, long before there were marine 12 just 20 years. scientists, fishermen from the Thames asked King Edward III of England to ban primitive trawl nets that they recognized were causing “great damage of the common's realm and the In recent years, 95 percent of HSBT landings-by-weight have come from just a few species 22 (listed here in order of approximate highest to lowest landings): northern ( Pandalus destruction of the fisheries.” Unfortunately for the United Kingdom today, that did not happen, and the Thames Estuary has long since ceased being a and fishery hotspot. However, in the twenty-first century, at a time when commonsense is no longer common and irrefutable, and 5 Pechenik, L.N., and F.M. Troyanovsky (1970). Trawling resources of the North-Atlantic continental slope. Murmanskoe Knihnoe when quantitative scientific proof is increasingly demanded to test the validity of even the obvious, Izdatel'stvo, Murmansk. Israel Program for Scientific Translations, 1971(5977):1-66; Koslow, J.A., et al (2000). Continental slope and deep-seas fisheries: Implications for a fragile . Journal of Marine Science 57:548-557 6 Zeldis, J.R. (1993). Applicability of egg surveys for spawning-stock estimation of snapper, orange roughy and hoki in New Zealand. Bulletin of Marine Science 53 (2):864-890 7 Roberts 2002, see note 1; Pauly, D., et al (2003). The future for fisheries. Science 302 (5649):1359-1361 13 Gianni 2004, see note 10 (landings information compiled from various sources) 8 Glover, A.G., and C.R. Smith (2003). The deep-sea floor ecosystem: current status and prospects of anthropogenic change by the 14 Gordon et al 1995, see note 3; Glover and Smith 2003, see note 8 year 2025. Environmental Conservation 30(3): 219-241 15 FAO (2002). The state of the world fisheries and 2002 . Food and Agriculture Organization, Rome; 9 Roberts, C.M., and J.P. Hawkins (1999). Extinction risk in the sea. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 14(6): 241-246 Gianni 2004, see note 10 10 WWF/IUCN (2001) The Status of Natural Resources on the High-seas . World Wide Fund for Nature and World Conservation 16 Gianni 2004, see note 10, estimates roughly 170 to 215 thousand tons Union; Gianni, M. (2004). High-seas bottom fisheries and their impact on the biodiversity of vulnerable deep-seas ecosystems: 17 Gianni 2004, see note 10 options for international action . IUCN 18 including Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia which became EU members in May 2004 11 Stone et al (2004). Seamount biodiversity, exploitation and conservation. pp. 41-70 in L.K. Glover and S.A. Earle, eds. Defying 19 Gianni 2004, see note 10 Ocean’s End: An Agenda for Action . Island Press, Washington, DC 20 ibid. 12 Clark, M., and R. O'Driscoll (2003). Deep-water fisheries and aspects of their impact on seamount habitat in New Zealand. 21 ibid. Journal of Northwest Atlantic 31: 441-458 22 FAO 2002, see note 15

Why the world needs a time -out on high -seas bottom trawling – Deep Sea Conservation Coalition 3 Why the world needs a time -out on high -seas bottom trawling – Deep Sea Conservation Coalition 4 there is overwhelming scientific evidence that bottom trawling causes terrible damage to seafloor (the same area is often trawled many times a year) is equivalent to about 50 percent of the world’s ecosystems and even more terrible damage to the fragile and slow growing ecosystems of the deep continental shelf area, or approximately 150 times the area of forest that is clearcut worldwide. 28 sea. Perhaps the combination of simple logic and scientific observations will help us to avoid The International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES) reviewed available information making the same mistakes that governments have been making for centuries. on the impacts of gillnets, longlines and bottom trawl gear on deep-water habitats. They concluded The huge bottom trawls are dragged across the seafloor to catch fish and that live in, that while all deep-water fishing gear has some impact on the , bottom-trawl fishing is by far on, or just above the bottom. Because more than 98 percent of marine animal species live in, on, or the most damaging to deep-water and other vulnerable species. ICES concluded by advising immediately above the seafloor, 23 anything that causes significant harm to the seafloor profoundly that “ the most effective way of mitigating the effect of trawling on these habitats is to close such damages the health of ocean ecosystems as a whole. Both logic and the large, and rapidly growing, areas to [bottom-trawl] fishing” and “the only proven method of preventing damage to deep-water number of scientific studies documenting trawling-impacts lead to the unmistakable conclusion that biogenic reefs from fishing activities is through spatial closures to towed gear that potentially bottom trawling is the world’s most harmful method of fishing. 24 impacts the bottom. ”29 Bottom trawlers range from eight-meter boats that fish in nearshore water to 100-meter The United States National Academy of Sciences’ National Research Council 30 that fish in the deep sea thousands of kilometers from home ports. Large bottom trawlers use comprehensively analyzed the ecological impacts of trawling. In summarizing dozens of peer- 4,000-horsepower engines to haul 40-ton catches. 25 Weighted with massive bobbins, rollers, or reviewed scientific papers, it concluded that trawling diminishes seafloor species diversity, habitat rockhoppers, the trawl nets stretch up to 40 meters in width and are held open by pairs of seven-ton complexity, and . Morgan and Chuenpagdee and Chuenpagdee and colleagues polled steel trawl doors. Trawler footropes can roll 18-ton seafloor rocks. 26 Both rolled-boulders and trawl fishery professionals including fishermen, managers, conservationists and scientists for their doors can plow deep gouges in soft sediments. A trawler towing at three to four knots for a period of assessment of the ecological impact of 10 major fishing gears used in United States waters, and four hours directly impacts an area of 2.5 km 2.27 Trawling trips can last as long as four to six weeks found that experts from all sectors agree that bottom trawling is the most damaging fishing with fishing around the clock. Trawlers sweep a vast area of seafloor, crushing corals, sponges and method of all. 31 most of the other living things that they hit. The estimated total area swept annually by trawl nets Because fishing has depleted fish from the nearshore, including the continental shelves, 32 40 percent of the world’s trawling grounds are now in deeper waters on slopes or seamounts. 33 Today, most commercially important deep-sea species are found on seamounts. However, some 23 Thurman, H.V., and E.A. Burton (2001). Introductory . 9th ed. Prentice-Hall, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey ‘seamount species’ were originally caught on continental slopes before fishing operations drove (USA) 34 24 Auster, P.J., and R.W. Langton (1999). The effects of fishing on fish habitat. pp 150-187 in L.R. Benaka, ed. Fish habitat: essential them to such low population levels that seamounts became their last refuges. Most HSBT occurs at depths below 400 meters on slopes, seamounts, banks, ridges, plateaus, and other bathymetric fish habitat and rehabilitation . American Fisheries Society, Bethesda, Maryland (USA); Barnette, M.C. (1999). Gulf of Mexico fishing 35 36 gear and their potential impacts on essential fish habitat. NMFS, NMFS-SEFSC-432, St Petersburg, FL; Berkeley et al (1985). Bait rises from the seafloor, and the majority of it occurs in the 600 to 1,000 meters range. Relatively of Biscayne Bay . Florida Sea Grant College Program Technical Paper No. 40; Bradstock, M., and D.P. Gordon (1983). few vessels currently fish below 1,000 meters, although this will change as fish are eliminated at -like bryozoan growths in Tasman Bay, and their protection to conserve commercial fish stocks. New Zealand Journal of Marine shallower depths. 37 The deepest trawling currently occurs up to a depth of 2,000 meters. 38 and Freshwater Research 17: 159-163; Bridger, J.P. (1970). Some effects of the passage of a trawl over the seabed. Gear and Behavior Committee, ICES C.M.: 254-259; Collie et al (2000) Photographic evaluation of the impacts of bottom fishing in benthic epifauna. ICES Most deep-sea bottom trawling appears to occur within national waters, but firm evidence is Journal of Marine Science 57: 987-1001; de Groot, S.J. (1984). The impact of bottom trawling on benthic fauna of the . Ocean lacking because UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) data do not distinguish between high 39 Management 9: 177-190; Engel, J., and R. Kvitek (1998). Effects of otter trawling on a benthic community in Monterey Bay National seas and EEZ waters or between different gear types. Recent attempts to analyze the best Marine Sanctuary. Conservation Biology 12: 1204-1214; Freese et al (1999). Effects of trawling on seafloor habitat and associated statistics available indicate that the great majority of HSBT fishing occurs in the North Atlantic, invertebrate taxa in the Gulf of Alaska. Marine Ecology Progress Series 182: 119-126; Guillen et al (1994). Anti-trawling reefs and the Southern Indian, and Southwest Pacific (adjacent to Australian and New Zealand EEZs) Oceans. protection of Posidonia oceanica (L.) delile meadows in the western Mediterranean Sea: Demand and aims. Bulletin of Marine Science It is estimated that 60 percent of the world’s HSBT catch comes from the Northwest Atlantic. 40 55: 645-650; Jennings, S., and M.J. Kaiser (1998). The effects of fishing on marine ecosystems. pp 201-352 in Blaxter et al, eds. Advances in . Academic Press Limited, London; Jennings et al (2001). Impacts of trawling disturbance on the trophic structure of benthic invertebrate communities. Marine Ecology Progress Series 213: 127-142; Kaiser, M.J., and B.E. Spencer (1996). The effects of beam-trawl disturbance on infaunal communities in different habitats. Journal of Animal Ecology 65: 348-358; Kaiser et al 28 Watling and Norse, see note 24; Norse, E.A., and L. Watling (1999). Impacts of mobile fishing gear: The biodiversity perspective . (2000). Chronic fishing disturbance has changed shelf sea benthic community structure. Journal of Animal Ecology 69: 494-503; American Fisheries Society Symposium Kenchington et al (2001). Effects of experimental otter trawling on the macrofauna of a sandy bottom ecosystem on the Grand Banks of 29 ICES (2002). Report of the ICES Advisory Committee on Ecosystems, 2002. ICES Cooperative Research Report No. 254. Newfoundland. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 58: 1043-1057; Meyer et al (1999). Effects of live-bait shrimp International Council for the Exploration of the Sea, December 2002. pgs 28-33. trawling on beds and fish bycatch in Tampa Bay, Florida. Fishery Bulletin 97: 193-199; Moore, D.R., and H.R. Bullis (1960). A 30 NRC 2002, see note 2 deep-water in the Gulf of Mexico. Bulletin of Marine Science of the Gulf and Caribbean 10: 125-128; Sainsbury, K.J., and R.A. 31 Chuenpagdee, R., et al (2003). Shifting Gears: Assessing collateral impacts of fishing methods in US waters. Frontiers in Ecology Campbell (1997). Experimental management of an Australian multispecies fishery: Examining the possibility of trawl induced habitat and the Environment 1: 517-524; Morgan, L.E., and R. Chuenpagdee (2003). Shifting Gears: Addressing the Collateral Impacts of modifications. pp 107-112 in Pikitch et al, eds. Global Trends: . American Fisheries Society, Bethesda, MD; Fishing Methods in U.S. Waters . Island Press, Washington, DC Schwinghamer et al (1998). Effects of experimental otter trawling on surficial sediment properties of a sandy-bottom ecosystem on the 32 Pauly et al 2003, see note 7 Grand Banks of Newfoundland. Conservation Biology 12: 1215-1222; Smith, E.M., and L.L. Stewart (1985). A study of fisheries 33 Roberts 2002, see note 1; Stone et al 2004, see note 11 in the Connecticut waters of Long Island Sound with special reference to the effects of trawling on . Connecticut Department of 34 Clark, M.R., et al (2000). The effects of commercial exploitation on orange roughy ( Hoplostethus atlanticus ) from the continental Environmental Protection Marine Fisheries Program, University of Connecticut, Hartford, CT; Thrush et al (1998). Disturbance of the slope of the , New Zealand, from 1979 to 1997. Fisheries Research 45:217-238; Watson, R., and T. Morato (2004). marine benthic habitat by commercial fishing: Impacts at the scale of the fishery. Ecological Applications 8: 866-879; Tilmant, J. (1979). Exploitation patterns in seamount fisheries: a preliminary analysis. pp. 61-66 in T. Morato and D. Pauly, eds. Seamounts: Observations on the impact of shrimp roller frame trawls operated over hard bottom communities, Biscayne Bay, Florida . National Park Biodiversity and Fisheries . University of British Columbia, Vancouver Service, Biscayne National Monument, Series No. P-553, Homestead; Tuck et al (1998). Effects of physical trawling disturbance in a 35 ICES Advisory Committee on Fisheries Management (2003). Deep-water fisheries resources south of 63°N, Overview. Available previously unfished sheltered Scottish sea loch. Marine Ecology Progress Series 162: 227-242; Van Dolah et al (1987). Effects of a online at http://www.ices.dk/committe/acfm/comwork/report/2003/oct/o-3-13.pdf research trawl on a hard bottom assemblage of sponges and corals. Fisheries Research 5: 39-54; Watling, L., and E.A. Norse (1998). 36 Glover and Smith 2003, see note 8 Disturbance of the seabed by mobile fishing gear: a comparison with forest clear-cutting. Conservation Biology 12: 1189-1197 37 ibid. 25 Merrett, N., and R. Haedrich (1997). Deep-Sea and Fisheries . Chapman and Hall, London 38 Gianni 2004, see note 10 26 Risk, M.J., et al. (1998). Conservation of cold- and warm-water seafans: threatened ancient gorgonian groves. Sea Wind 12(1): 2-21 39 ibid. 27 Merrett and Haedrich 1997, see note 25 40 ibid.

Why the world needs a time -out on high -seas bottom trawling – Deep Sea Conservation Coalition 5 Why the world needs a time -out on high -seas bottom trawling – Deep Sea Conservation Coalition 6 3. Deep-sea fish are inherently vulnerable to over-fishing Targeting Spawning Aggregations Because of the generally low food supply in the deep sea, fish are normally dispersed and come To keep pace with exploitation, all fisheries depend on the reproductive capacity and growth rates together in large groups only to . From the perspective of HSBT, those aggregations of the target species, which in turn depend on the productivity of the ecosystem. 41 With the provide the most profitable target. Targeting spawning aggregations is also the most effective exception of hydrothermal vents, deep-sea ecosystems have much lower productivity than surface way to rapidly deplete fisheries, but that is exactly what some HSBT operations do. and coastal waters. Moreover, the deep sea is cold, often just above freezing. Low food availability and cold temperatures contribute to the very low reproduction and growth rates of deep-sea fish. Orange roughy ( Hoplostethus atlanticus ) fisheries deliberately target spawning aggregations. For example, some of the rockfish ( Sebastes spp.) that live on continental slopes and seamounts in Other fisheries that have used this strategy, such as the Nassau ( Epinephelus striatus ) the North Pacific may live to be as old as 200 years, 42 and take 10 to 39 years to reach maturity. fisheries throughout the Caribbean, have eliminated their target fish in just a few years, allowing little opportunity for recovery. 53 But orange roughy and other deep-sea fish are more vulnerable As a result of their slow growth and low reproductive rates, deep-sea fish are the most because of their longer lifespan and lower reproductive rates. Exploiting spawning aggregations vulnerable of all fish to over-fishing. 43 For shallow-water species, a large body size and late age of is more like mining than fishing because it reduces the chance of recovery so severely. 54 maturity are reliable predictors of vulnerability to overexploitation, 44 and the same relationship appears to hold true for some deep-sea species. The pattern of sequential population depletion Because it is the target of one of the most important deep-sea fisheries, orange roughy is one observed in many shallow-water fisheries is now being witnessed in deep-sea fisheries, but at a of the best studied deep-sea fish and provides a good case study concerning the vulnerability of 45 deep-sea fish to fishing. This species occurs on deep banks, mid-ocean ridges, and seamounts in much faster pace and with even less chance of recovery. Yet most studies of deep-sea fisheries 55 begin only after intense fishing has sharply reduced their populations. 46 Annual sustainable levels of most oceans but is especially abundant near New Zealand and Tasmania, typically at depths of 700 to 1,800 m. 56 Orange roughy live to 150 years, and their average age at sexual maturity is catch were estimated at only two percent of pre-exploitation biomass for orange roughy in New 57 Zealand, 47 and model simulation studies show that the low population resilience of seamount fish 24, making this fish extremely slow to recover from fishing. 48 species suggests exploitation rates greater than five percent annually will be unsustainable. The New Zealand fishery for roughy took off in the 1980s with the discovery of spawning 49 These are very low exploitation levels and may not be economically viable. grounds around deep New Zealand and southern Australian seamounts, where catches for the 58 Seamount fisheries have repeatedly devastated fish populations in just a few years. For fish could be as high as 60 metric tons from a 20-minute tow. New Zealand instituted total allowable catch levels that were considered prudent in the early years of the fishery – but example, pelagic armorheads ( Pseudopentaceros wheeleri ) on the Emperor Seamount chain in the 59 north Pacific were severely over-fished in the 1960s and ‘70s by Soviet and Taiwanese trawlers, populations and landings had declined by the 1990s. In just over a decade, populations 50 collapsed to less than 20 percent of pre-exploitation abundance because the fishery targeted and have not recovered in the decades since. Other deep-sea fisheries off New Zealand, Australia 60 and Namibia, and in the North Atlantic and Southern Indian Oceans have all experienced similar spawning aggregations. As with most fisheries where spawning aggregations are targeted, rapid depletions of deep-sea fish populations. 51 In its recent review of deep-water fishing, the ICES these declines were not recognized until it was too late to mitigate them. Even in a small population, when all the adults aggregate for spawning they give the appearance of a healthy Advisory Committee on Fisheries Management expressed concern that “deep-sea stocks can be 61 depleted very quickly and that recovery will be slow.” 52 population because catches are still high – even with low fishing effort. In Namibia, four orange roughy spawning aggregations were discovered in 1994. Only five vessels fished them, but in just six years, these populations were overexploited to around 10 62 41 Merrett and Haedrich 1997, see note 25; Jennings and Kaiser 1998, see note 24 percent of their original biomass. The targeting of these most vulnerable groups of deep-sea 42 Caillet et al (2001). Age determination and validation studies of marine fish: do deep-dwellers live longer? Experimental fish species and the inherent vulnerability of all deep-sea fish makes HSBT fisheries one of the Gerontology 36:739-764 least sustainable fisheries on Earth . Worse still, the impact of these fisheries is not limited to the 43 Gordon et al 1995, see note 3; Morato et al (2004). Vulnerability of seamount fish to fishing: Fuzzy analysis of -history species they target. attributes. pp. 51-60 in T. Morato and D. Pauly, eds. Seamounts: Biodiversity and Fisheries 44 Jennings et al 2001, see note 24 Impacts of bottom trawling on non-target fish species 45 Clark, M.R. (1999). Fisheries for orange roughy ( Hoplostethus atlanticus ) on seamounts in New Zealand. Oceanologica Acta 22 One key measure of the efficiency or ‘cleanness’ of a fishery is the amount of bycatch, defined as (6):1-10; Roberts, C.M. (2000) Why does fishery management so often fail? pp. 170–192 in M. Huxham, D. Sumner, eds. Science the catch of non-target species or individuals that are discarded, usually dead or fatally injured. and Environmental Decision Making Prentice Hall; Roberts 2002, see note 1 By this measure, too, bottom trawling is by far the worst of all fishing methods. The FAO’s latest 46 Haedrich, R.L., et al (2001). Can ecological knowledge catch up with deep-water fishing? A North Atlantic perspective. Fisheries compilation of world fishery statistics reports that trawl fisheries for shrimp and demersal finfish Research 51:113-122; Glover and Smith 2003, see note 8 47 Francis, R., et al (1995). Assessment of the ORH 3B orange roughy fishery for the 1994-1995 fishing year . New Zealand Fishery constitute about 22 percent of the world’s fish landings but account for more than 50 percent of the Assessment Research Document 95/4, 43pp. Available at: NIWA, Wellington 48 Morato et al 2004, see note 43 53 Sadovy, Y. (1993). The Nassau grouper, endangered or just unlucky? Reef Encounters 13:10–12 49 ibid. 54 Johannes, R.E. (1998). The case for data-less marine resource management: examples from tropical nearshore fin fisheries. 50 Humphreys, R.L. (2000). Otolith-based assessment of recruitment variation in a North Pacific seamount population of armorhead Trends in Ecology and Evolution 13:243–246 Pseudopentaceros wheeleri . Marine Ecology Progress Series 204:213-223 55 Koslow et al 2000, see note 5; Koslow, J.A., et al (2001) Seamount benthic macrofauna off southern Tasmania: community 51 New Zealand orange roughy biomass reduced to 15-20% of pre-exploitation levels in 15 years, reported in Clark, M. (2001). Are structure and impacts of trawling. Marine Ecology Progress Series 213:111-125 deep-water fisheries sustainable?—the example of orange roughy ( Hoplostethus atlanticus ) in New Zealand. Fisheries Research 56 Rogers, A.D. (1994). The biology of seamounts. Advances in Marine Biology 30:305-350 51(2-3): 123-135; Australian orange roughy biomass reduced to 7-13% of pre-exploitation levels in about 15 years, reported in Lack, 57 Clark, M.R., and D.M. Tracey (1994). Changes in a population of orange roughy, Hoplostethus atlanticus , with commercial M., et al (2003). Managing risk and uncertainty in deep-sea fisheries: lessons from orange roughy . A Joint Report by TRAFFIC, exploitation on the , New-Zealand. Fishery Bulletin 92(2): 236-253 Oceana, and WWF Endangered Seas Programme; Namibian orange roughy biomass reduced to 10% of pre-exploitation levels in 6 58 Batson, P. (2003). Deep New Zealand: blue water black abyss. The Canterbury University Press, Christchurch ; Roberts 2002, years, reported in Branch, T.A. (2001). A review of orange roughy Hoplostethus atlanticus fisheries, estimation methods, biology see note 1 and stock structure. South African Journal of Marine Science 23:181-203; North Atlantic Ocean, Atkinson, D.B. (1995) The biology 59 Merrett and Haedrich 1997, see note 25 and fishery of roundnose grenadier ( Coryphaenoides rupestris Gunnerus, 1976) in the northwest Atlantic. pp 51-112 in A.G. Hopper, 60 Clark 1999, see note 45; Koslow et al 2000, see note 5 ed. Deep-Water Fisheries of the North Atlantic Oceanic Slope . Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht (Netherlands); Southern 61 Cheung, W.W.L. et al (2004). A fuzzy logic expert system for estimating the intrinsic extinction vulnerabilities of seamount fish to Indian Ocean, Gianni 2004, see note 10 fishing. pp. 33-50 in T. Morato and D. Pauly, eds. Seamounts: Biodiversity and Fisheries . University of British Columbia, Vancouver 52 Report of the ICES Advisory Committee on Fishery Management, 2003, ICES Report number 261 62 Branch 2001, see note 51

Why the world needs a time -out on high -seas bottom trawling – Deep Sea Conservation Coalition 7 Why the world needs a time -out on high -seas bottom trawling – Deep Sea Conservation Coalition 8 world’s bycatch. In addition, while overall world have decreased (in large part due to young fish that cannot take refuge in complex structures suffer higher rates of predation. 73 greater retention of non-target species), deep-water fisheries discards have increased. 63 Trawling also greatly reduces the biomass of benthic species 74 and alters the composition of the marine community. 75 By any measure, on a worldwide basis, bottom trawling is the most Many deep-sea fisheries are also multi-species fisheries or have a large bycatch of non- harmful fishing method to seafloor habitats. commercial fish species. 64 As a result, they can be at least as devastating to non-target species as to their intended targets. After ten years of the orange roughy fishery on the Chatham Rise, off New As with fish, habitat-forming animals are vulnerable to bottom trawling because of their Zealand, 13 out of 17 bycatch species showed lower biomasses. Populations of Plunket’s extreme longevity. 76 Individual gold corals from seamounts have been estimated to live up to (Centroscymnus plunketi ) and black cardinal fish ( Epigonus telescopus ) decreased to only six 1,800 years, 77 making them the oldest known animals on Earth, while deep-sea, cold-water percent of their original biomass. 65 The orange roughy fishery on the South Tasman Rise also coral reefs are estimated to persist for over 8,000 years. 78 By comparison, the oldest captured large quantities of oreos (fish in the family Oreosomatidae ). Between the 1997-1998 and living terrestrial animals are thought to be land tortoises, which live to approximately 170 years 2000-2001 fishing seasons, oreo bycatch decreased from 7,400 to 350 tons, indicating a substantial of age. 79 Because so many bottom-dwelling deep-sea organisms are extremely slow growing, population decline. 66 Atlantic wolffish, Anarhichas lupus , may be on the road to becoming an even a single trawl causes damage that cannot be reversed for decades or even centuries. 80 in the northwest Atlantic largely due to mortality relating to bycatch. 67 This is particularly true on seamounts, which have an exceptionally high proportion of endemic species (species that are found in one place and nowhere else). 81 Endemism on seamounts A non-expert might ask whether some of these bycatch animals could be returned to the sea 82 may range as high as 30 to 50 percent. For endemic species, there are no sources for unharmed. Inedible scavengers such as starfish and hermit trawled in shallower waters do recolonization after a seamount is trawled, so endemism makes seamounts especially survive being caught and thrown back, 68 but probably 100 percent of fish caught by HSBT die vulnerable to trawling. because of external damage to the skin from the fishing gear or internal damage caused by distension of the owing to pressure changes from the great depths from which they Bottom trawling can strip seamounts bald. Off Tasmania, Australia, some trawled are brought up. 69 Some fish that are too small to catch can squeeze through the net meshes of the seamounts are 95 percent bare rock. 83 One comparison of trawled and untrawled seamounts trawls and escape without being brought to the surface, but deep-sea fish have large scales and on the Chatham Rise off New Zealand showed that coral habitat covered 52 percent of the weak skin and lack the mucus coating of shallow water fish. As a result, they are stripped of scales seafloor on untrawled seamounts as opposed to two percent on trawled seamounts. 84 On and skin by the tremendous forces in trawl nets, so that even if they are able to pass through the Northwest Challenger Plateau in the and on the Graveyard seamount complex trawl-net mesh alive, they suffer heavy mortality from their injuries. 70 on Northwest Chatham rise, coral cover on untrawled seamounts was close to 100 percent as opposed to two to three percent on trawled seamounts. 85 Another study found that untrawled seamounts had double the benthic biomass as well as 46 percent more species than trawled 4. Deep-sea ecosystems are severely damaged by 86 bottom trawling seamounts. Myriad living organisms, such as corals, sponges, tube worms, and form complex structures in and on the seafloor, thereby providing crucial food and refuge for marine species and enhancing fish survivorship. 71 Trawling gear removes these complex structures, 72 and 73 Lindholm, J., et al (1999). Habitat-mediated survivorship of juvenile (0-year) Atlantic ( morhua ). Marine Ecology Progress Series 180:247-255; Stone et al 2005, see note 72 74 Jennings et al 2001, see note 24; Koslow et al 2001, see note 55; Kenchington et al 2001, see note 24; Brown et al 2005, see 63 FAO (2004). The state of the world fisheries and aquaculture 2004 . United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, Rome note 72; Collie, J.S., et al (2005). Effects of fishing on gravel habitats: assessment and recovery of benthic megafauna on Georges 64 Piñeiro, C.G., and M.C.R. Bañón (2001). The deep-water fisheries exploited by Spanish fleets in the Northeast Atlantic: a review Bank. American Fisheries Society Symposium 41: in press; Gordon, D.C., et al (2005). Summary of the Grand Banks otter trawling of the current status. Fisheries Research 51:311-320 experiment (1993–1995): effects on benthic habitat and macrobenthic communities. American Fisheries Society Symposium 41: in 65 Clark et al 2000, see note 34 press 66 Anderson O.F., and M.R. Clark (2003). Analysis of bycatch in the fishery for orange roughy, Hoplostethus atlanticus , on the South 75 Sainsbury, K.J. (1988). The ecological basis of multispecies fisheries and management of a demersal fishery in tropical Australia. Tasman Rise. Marine and Freshwater Research 54 (5):643-652 pp. 349-382 in J.A. Gulland, ed. Fish Population Dynamics . John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.; Gage, J.D., et al (2005). Potential impacts of 67 O’Dea, N.R., and R.L. Haedrich (2002). A review of the status of the Atlantic Wolffish, Anarhichas lupus , in Canada. Canadian deep-sea trawling on the benthic ecosystem along the northern European continental margin: a review. American Fisheries Society Field Naturalist 116(3):423-432 Symposium 41: in press 68 Kaiser, M.J., and B.E. Spencer (1996). The effects of beam-trawl disturbance on infaunal communities in different habitats. 76 Andrews, A.H., et al (2002). Age, growth and radiometric age validation of a deep-sea, habitat-forming gorgonian ( Primnoa Journal of Animal Ecology 65: 348-358. resedaeformis ) from the Gulf of Alaska. Hydrobiologia 471:101-110; Risk, M.J., et al (2002) Lifespans and growth patterns of two 69 Gordon, J.D.M. (2001). Deep-water fisheries at the Atlantic Frontier. Continental Shelf Research 21:987–1003 deep-sea corals: Primnoa resedaeformis and Desmophyllum cristagalli . Hydrobiologia 471:125-131 70 Connolly, P.L., and C.J. Kelly (1996). Catch and discards from experimental trawl and in deep-water of the Rockall 77 Druffel, E.R.M., et al (1995). Gerardia: Bristlecone pine of the deep-sea? Geochemica et Cosmochimica Acta 59: 5031-5036 Trough. Journal of Fish Biology 49 (Supplement A): 132--144 78 Mikkelsen, N., et al (1982). Norwegian corals:radiocarbon and stable isotopes in Lophelia pertusa . Boreas 11:163-171; Hovland, 71 Auster, P.J.M., et al (1995). Management implications of mobile fishing gear alterations to benthic habitats in the Gulf of : M., et al (1998). Ahermatypic coral banks off mid-Norway: evidence for a link with seepage of light hydrocarbons. Palaios 13:189- science program summary . Groton,CT., NOAA's National Undersea Research Center; Auster, P.J. (1998). A conceptual model of the 200; Andrews et al 2002, see note 76; Risk et al 2002, see note 76 impacts of fishing gear on the integrity of fish habitats. Conservation Biology 12: 1198-1202; Langton, R.W., et al (1995). A spatial and 79 Stocks, K. (2004). Seamount invertebrates: composition and vulnerability to fishing. pp. 17-25 in T. Morato and D. Pauly D, eds. temporal perspective on research and management of groundfish in the Northwest Atlantic. Reviews in Fisheries Science 3(3):201-229; Seamounts: Biodiversity and Fisheries . University of British Columbia, Vancouver Stein, D.L., et al (1992). Fish-habitat associations on a deep reef at the edge of the Oregon continental shelf. Fishery Bulletin 90:540- 80 Freiwald, A., et al (2004). Cold Water Coral Reefs: Out of sight- No longer out of mind . UNEP World Conservation Monitoring 551; Tupper, M., and R.G. Boutilier (1995). Effects of habitat on settlement, growth, and postsettlement survival of ( Gadus Center, Cambridge (UK) morhua ). Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 52:1834-1841; Yoklavich, M.M., et al (2000). Habitat associations of 81 Koslow et al 2001, see note 55 deep-water rockfish in a submarine canyon: an example of a natural refuge. Fishery Bulletin 98:625-641 82 Stone et al 2004, see note 11; estimate of 30-50% from Richer de Forges et al (2000). Diversity and endemism of the benthic 72 Auster, P., et al (1996). The impacts of mobile fishing gear on seafloor habitats in the (Northwest Atlantic): Implications seamount fauna in the southwest Pacific. Nature 405: 944-947 for conservation of fish populations. Reviews in Fisheries Science 4:185-202; Koenig, C.C., et al (2000). Protection of fish spawning 83 Koslow et al 2001, see note 55 habitat for the conservation of warm-temperate reef-fish fisheries of shelf-edge reefs of Florida. Bulletin of Marine Science 66:593-616; 84 Rowden, A.A., et al (2004). The influence of deep-water coral habitat and fishing on benthic faunal assemblages of seamounts on Koslow et al 2001, see note 55; Brown, E.J., et al (2005). Effects of commercial otter trawling on benthic communities in the the Chatham Rise, New Zealand . ICES paper CM2004/AA:09 southeastern Bering Sea. American Fisheries Society Symposium 41: in press; Stone, R.P., et al (2005). Effects of bottom trawling on 85 Anderson and Clark 2003, see note 66 soft-sediment epibenthic communities in the Gulf of Alaska. American Fisheries Society Symposium 41: in press 86 Koslow et al 2001, see note 55

Why the world needs a time -out on high -seas bottom trawling – Deep Sea Conservation Coalition 9 Why the world needs a time -out on high -seas bottom trawling – Deep Sea Conservation Coalition 10 The rapid disappearance of corals after trawling begins is evident even in fishery statistics. Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), few data are consistently gathered on high-seas The first pass of a trawl inflicts the most disturbance on the benthic habitat. 87 On South Tasman bottom-trawl landings. 96 Rise seamounts, orange roughy fisheries caught an estimated 1.6 tons of coral for each hour of towing a trawl net during the 1997-1998 season, the first year of this fishery. Indeed, the catch Attempts to regulate the exploitation of seamount species such as orange roughy have failed to prevent fishery collapse because these species are very different from shallow-water of 4,000 tons of orange roughy that first year is estimated to have resulted in a catch of more 97 than 10,000 tons of coral – with presumably much more destroyed or damaged on the seabed species in longevity, growth rate, and rate of reproduction. This means that methods of fish 88 and fisheries management models developed for shallow-water species are below . At the start of the New Zealand fishery that targeted spawning aggregations of orange 98 roughy, bottom trawls brought up a great deal of benthic bycatch, but these levels decreased often inappropriate for deep-sea species. In addition, fundamental data about deep-sea fish with repeated trawling. 89 populations are often lacking or are gathered long after the fish stock has been decimated. Such information for depleted stocks may not apply to populations in their more natural state. 99 Trawling damage to deep-sea corals is by no means confined to the Pacific orange roughy fishery. In the North Atlantic, colonies and reefs of the cold-water coral Lophelia pertusa have Deep-sea bottom-trawl fishing has generally commenced in the absence of basic biological been damaged or smashed to rubble by deep-sea bottom trawling. 90 Trawling has caused information essential to sustainable fisheries management. For instance, there was little extensive coral damage all along the continental margin off Ireland, , and Norway to actually known about the basic biology of the roundnose grenadier ( Coryphaenoides rupestris ) depths of 1,300 meters. 91 The Institute for Marine Research in Bergen, Norway, estimates that prior to exploitation, and only in 1997 – 30 years after the start of commercial fishing – was it 100 30 to 50 percent of deep-sea corals in the Norwegian EEZ have already been damaged by confirmed that this is a long-lived, slowly maturing fish vulnerable to exploitation. Genetic bottom-trawl fishing. 92 studies have shown that although deep-sea fish apparently have wide geographic ranges, populations are genetically distinct at oceanic, regional, and sub-regional scales. 101 This means Deep-sea corals are especially vulnerable, not only because they are long-lived, but also that rebuilding exploited stocks through immigration from other populations is unlikely. because their branched physical forms – evolved so that the capture of drifting food by the individual polyps is at its most efficient – are fragile and easily snagged and cannot, therefore, It is much easier to kill huge numbers of deep-sea fish in trawls than it is to study these fish resist deep-sea bottom trawling. 93 Almost nothing is known about the role played by coral as living animals. One consequence of this fact is that scientists have almost no understanding structures in the life histories of deep-sea fish. From what is known about corals in shallower of the roles that either target or bycatch species play in these deep-sea ecosystems. There are regions, however, it is very likely that this role is substantial, especially during the younger life reports that some target species occur in the diets of whales, 102 but most deep-sea food webs stages of the fish. are still a scientific mystery. And they are likely to remain so if we destroy seamount after 94 seamount in pursuit of their fish. Impacts of trawling on deep-sea fish may have unforeseen Trawling ancient forests of deep-sea corals is analogous to forest clearcutting. But consequences on other parts of deep-sea ecosystems about which we, as yet, have little despite measures taken by some countries within their EEZs, we have not yet even begun to understanding. But to judge from what has happened in shallower waters, selective removal establish refuges for the endemic animals that live on seamounts in international waters. An of large fish through trawling will have profound, long-term and probably irreversible impacts immediate moratorium on high-seas bottom trawling is needed to preserve these fragile on the entire ecosystem, especially on productivity and community structure. 103 animals while regulators determine how best to manage and protect them. Despite the fact that seamounts are very large features (by definition, they extend upward more than 1,000 meters above the surrounding seafloor), their numbers are poorly known. 5. Scientific understanding is inadequate for sustainable deep- The true number is in the range of 14,000 to 100,000, 104 but only 350 have been biologically explored, and only 90 of these have been the subjects of quantitative, taxonomically-broad sea bottom-trawl fisheries surveys. 105 We only know enough about them to say that they are biologically very special, Without reliable data it is impossible for scientists to provide managers with sound advice. The that their species are uniquely vulnerable, and that seamount ecosystems are rapidly being extent of bottom-trawl fishing in international waters is still poorly known. The FAO states that destroyed by bottom trawling. “it is difficult to assess the development of fishing on the high seas because reports to the FAO of marine catches make no distinction between those taken within EEZs and those taken on the high seas,” nor is gear type distinguished. 95 In general, with the exception of the Northwest Atlantic, which is managed by the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO), and the 96 Gianni 2004, see note 10 waters around Antarctica which are managed by the Commission for the Conservation of 97 Morato et al 2004, see note 43 98 Boyer, D.C., et al (2001). The orange roughy fishery off Namibia: Lessons to be learned about managing a developing fishery. Pp205-211 in Paine, A.I.L., Pillar, S.C. and Crawford, R.J.M. (eds.). A decade of Namibian fisheries science. South African Journal 87 Dinmore, T.A., et al (2003). Impact of a large-scale area closure on patterns of fishing disturbance and the consequences for of Marine Science 23 benthic communities. Ices Journal Of Marine Science 60(2): 371-380 99 Haedrich et al 2001, see note 46 88 Anderson and Clark 2003, see note 66 100 Kelly, C.J., et al (1997). Age estimation, growth, maturity and distribution of the roundnosed grenadier from the Rockall Trough. 89 Probert, P.K., et al (1997). Benthic invertebrate bycatch from a deep-water trawl fishery, Chatham Rise, New Zealand. Aquatic Journal of Fish Biology 50: 1-17 Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems 7: 27-40; Anderson and Clark 2003, see note 66 101 e.g., black-spot sea bream, Stockley, B., et al (2005). Genetic population structure in the black-spot sea bream ( Pagellus 90 Rogers, A.D. (1999). The biology of Lophelia pertusa (LINNAEUS 1758) and other deep-water reef-forming corals and impacts bogaraveo Brünnich, 1768) from the NE Atlantic. Marine Biology 146:793-804; bluemouth ( Helicolenus dactylopterus ), Aboim, M.A., from human activities. International Review of Hydrobiology 84: 315-406; Fosså, J.H., and P.B. Mortensen (2000). The deep-water et al (2005). Genetic structure and history of populations of the deep-sea fish Helicolenus dactylopterus (Delaroche, 1809) inferred coral Lophelia pertusa in Norwegian waters: distribution and fishery impacts. Hydrobiologia 417: 1-12 from mtDNA sequences. Molecular Ecology . 14:1343-1354 91 Hall-Spencer et al (2002). Trawling damage to Northeast Atlantic ancient coral reefs. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, 102 Best, P.B. (1999). Food and feeding of sperm whales Physeter macrocephalus off the west of South Africa. South African Series B: Biological Sciences 269:507-511 Journal of Marine Science 21:393-413; Chikuni 1970 in Humphreys 2000, see note 50 92 Fosså and Mortensen 2000, see note 90 103 Jackson, J.B. et al (2001). Historical over-fishing and the recent collapse of coastal ecosystems. Science 293: 629-638 93 Stocks 2004, see note 79 104 Stone et al 2004, see note 11 94 Watling and Norse 1998, see note 24; Norse and Watling 1999, see note 28 105 Madin, L.P., et al (2004). The Unknown Ocean. pp 213-236, in L.K. Glover and S.A. Earle, eds. Defying Ocean’s End Island 95 FAO 2002, see note 15 Press, Washington DC

Why the world needs a time -out on high -seas bottom trawling – Deep Sea Conservation Coalition 11 Why the world needs a time -out on high -seas bottom trawling – Deep Sea Conservation Coalition 12 6. Management and governance are inadequate for sustainable Summary deep-sea bottom-trawl fisheries Deep-sea fish and ecosystems are extremely fragile and highly vulnerable to disturbance from On top of the inherent vulnerability of seamount species, the paucity of scientific information about them and the enormous impact of high-seas bottom-trawl fishing, existing mechanisms fishing. Deep-sea fish are too often treated by the as a non-renewable resource, for protecting, recovering, and ensuring the sustainability of high-seas deep- to be ‘mined’ until they are no longer economically viable. 111 We can say with near certainty that, are extremely poor. 106 Unfortunately, the stark reality is that access to high-seas living resources is virtually unimpeded and unregulated. 107 As deep-sea bottom-trawling fleets given current management practices, all current deep-sea fisheries on the high seas are have expanded into the high seas, few regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs) unsustainable. have the competence to regulate deep-sea fisheries, and fewer still have adopted effective 108 regulatory measures. Glover and Smith outline all of the potential impacts to the deep sea over the next 25 years. Several international agreements, including the 1995 UN Fish Stocks Agreement and the Deep-sea fishing is by far the most certain and intense threat to the most productive and diverse UN FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries dictate that fisheries should be managed 112 deep-sea ecosystems. Scientists and fisheries managers agree that the greatest threat to in a sustainable, precautionary and ecosystem-based manner that protects biodiversity, non- target species and special habitats. However, there is little evidence that bottom-trawl fisheries biodiversity in the deep-sea is bottom trawling. on the high seas, with the exception of the exploratory fisheries regulated by the CCAMLR, are operating in a manner consistent with these requirements. Two events in the last six months highlight our scant knowledge about the deep sea. First, in Vast areas of the oceans lack coverage by an RFMO with the legal competence to December 2004, a United States Navy nuclear submarine collided with a previously uncharted manage deep-sea fisheries on the high seas. The entire Indian and Pacific Oceans, as well seamount in the western Pacific. Second, scientists recently described a newly discovered as the Central and Southwest Atlantic are without effective regulatory mechanisms to mange deep-water fisheries or protect deep-sea biodiversity beyond national jurisdictions. The history species of black coral that grows to be two meters tall. This was found in the waters just offshore of serial depletion and biodiversity destruction in most high-seas deep-water fisheries of one of the largest cities in the world, Los Angeles, California. Clearly, humankind’s capacity to indicates an urgent need for action. In areas where a need for regulation arises due to the commencement of a deep-sea fishery, the rapidity with which bottom-trawl fleets deplete these harm the deep sea has greatly exceeded our knowledge of it. The headlong rush to exploit deep- populations is such that they may no longer exist once the international institutions are sea fish on the high seas has, and will undoubtedly continue to, come at a very steep price to the operational. 109 world’s biodiversity. For example, in the Southwest Indian Ocean ongoing efforts to create an RFMO since the discovery of fishable populations of orange roughy on the high seas in the late 1990s have not Deep-sea bottom trawling is the most destructive form of fishing and one of the most yet resulted in an agreement, although it is likely one will be reached in 2005. In the meantime most of the current bottom-trawl fisheries in this region peaked around 2000 and most appear significant human impacts on the globe. Life-history characteristics of deep-sea fish and benthic to have been depleted or collapsed by 2002. Moreover, it is clear that current RFMOs with the invertebrates and the high species-endemism found on seamounts make these species and competence to manage deep-sea fisheries on the high seas, again with the exception of the CCAMLR, have made very little or no effort to discourage harm to deep-sea ecosystems and ecosystems exceptionally vulnerable to over-fishing and disturbance by bottom trawling. Bottom biodiversity. Fortunately, it appears that at least two RFMOs (the General Fisheries trawling on the high seas is not sustainable given the inadequacy of current management and Commission of the Mediterranean and the North-East Atlantic Fisheries Commission) are starting to wake up and take some measures, but these are small and slow steps compared may very well be unsustainable at even greatly reduced levels of fishing. That is why 1,136 110 to the urgency of the situation. scientists have called for a moratorium on high-seas bottom trawling until the nations of the world Without a comprehensive governance structure for the management of high-seas deep-sea can establish strong management measures for deep-sea fisheries and biodiversity on the high bottom fishing and the protection of seafloor habitats, commercial extinction of most targeted seas. They should be heeded. species and biological of vast numbers of other marine species are likely.

106 Gjerde, K. and D. Freestone (eds.) (2004). Unfinished Business: Deep Sea Fisheries and the Conservation of Marine Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction. Special Issue of the International Journal of Marine and Coastal Law 19(3): 209-364 107 WWF/IUCN 2001, see note 10; Gorina-Ysern, M., et al (2004). Ocean governance: a new ethos through a world ocean public trust. pp 197-212 in L.K. Glover and S.A. Earle, eds. Defying Ocean’s End Island Press, Washington DC 108 Gianni 2004, see note 10 109 Molenaar, EJ. (2004). Unregulated Deep Sea Fisheries: A need for a Multi-Level Approach. in Unfinished Business: Deep Sea Fisheries and the Conservation of Marine Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction, Special Issue of the International Journal of Marine and Coastal Law 19(3): 209-364 111 Clark 2001, see note 51 110 Matt Gianni, personal communication 112 Glover and Smith, see note 8

Why the world needs a time -out on high -seas bottom trawling – Deep Sea Conservation Coalition 13 Why the world needs a time -out on high -seas bottom trawling – Deep Sea Conservation Coalition 14